Born to parents Anne Cox and Desmond Styles in Worcestershire, England, Harry first tried his hand at music while he was in school. He and some friends created White Eskimo, a band Harry provided lead vocals for and one that picked up wins at school competitions.

In 2010, Harry sang Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" during his audition for the British TV show The X Factor. He wowed the judges, including tough-to-please Simon Cowell, and made it through to the next round, where he sang Oasis' "Stop Crying Your Heart Out." Unfortunately, Harry was eliminated at the bootcamp stage of the program. But the judges felt that although he wasn't the solo act they were looking for, he and some other young men had hope in the form of a band. They brought Harry back and grouped him with Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson to create One Direction, a name Harry is credited with creating. As a band, the five youngsters competed and eventually finished third. But victory for them was soon to follow.

Upon completion of The X Factor, One Direction (or 1D as the band is often called) was immediately signed by Simon Cowell's music label, Syco. When the band released its first studio album, Up All Night, in 2011, it topped the Billboard charts. The first single from the album, "What Makes You Beautiful," won the 2012 Brit Award for Best British Single and went on to sell over five million copies. In 2012, 1D released its second studio album, Take Me Home. In the summer of that year, the band performed during the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in London.

Three years later, 1D announced that it would be taking a break. The U.K. newspaper The Sun reported in September 2016 that when asked about the band's future, Harry said, "I don't know. When we started, people always asked, 'Where do you think you'll be in five years?' It's a difficult question to answer. I would never say we'll never do anything ever again, but it's good for us to be exploring different things."

For Harry, one different thing he explored was acting. He stars in Christopher Nolan's WWII film Dunkirk, which profiles the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation where huge numbers of British, French and Belgian troops were withdrawn from France as the Nazis enclosed on them. Then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the evacuation effort and highly successful result "a miracle."

In Dunkirk, Harry shares the screen with Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, James D'Arcy, Tom Hardy and Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, who praised Harry's acting chops and revealed that he didn't need to offer Harry any tips because he has a "gift." In August 2016, MTV reported that Mark additionally said, "What's really surprised me is he's really witty, really funny — he really makes me laugh. He's been ever so brave, not making any fuss. He seems remarkable."

Harry, who worked at a bakery while in school and has George Michael lyrics tattooed on both feet, sports a star-studded record of ex-girlfriends, including photographer Sarah-Louise Colivet, models Emma Ostilly and Cara Delevingne, and singers Lily Halpern and Rita Ora. He also dated Taylor Swift for two months in 2012.

His most controversial relationship, however, was with TV presenter Caroline Flack, who hosted The Xtra Factor. The pair began dating in 2011 and broke up in 2012. Their relationship was contentious because Harry was only 17 and Caroline was 32 when they began dating.

Harry has also appeared onscreen in the 2013 feature-length documentary One Direction: This is Us, which profiles the ascension of 1D's performers from contestants on The X Factor to international pop superstars. Most recently, he starred in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017).